Alright, ”Takatalvi” and ”The Crow and the Warrior” are a little far-fetched – the first is an EP by Nightwish’ buddies Sonata Arctica; the latter is a song of Darkwoods My Betrothed, who had a split single (”Sacrament of Wilderness”) with Nightwish way back in 1998, and shared two of the founding Nightwish members (Holopainen and Vuorinen). Edit: After looking up the words ”takatalvi” and ”taikatalvi” on Google Translate, I find the words being related – ”takatalvi” means ”back in winter” while ”taikatalvi” means ”winter magic”.

I fail to see that ”Turn Loose the Mermaids” is not inspired by My Dying Bride’s 1994 album ”Turn Loose the Swans” though. Come on, probably the best doom metal record ever recorded, and one of Holopainen’s main inspirations for getting into heavy metal? It must at least have struck him at some point. Even the track-by-track teaser make me think of My Dying Bride: ”We quietly witness as her dying loved one takes his last journey…forever now, a haunting moment of beauty and comfort.”

And ”Song of Myself” can’t be anything other than either an instrumental piece inspired by, or maybe even a musical version of, ”Song of Myself” by Holopainen’s favourite poet Walt Whitman. I really look forward to it. And after reading the track-by-track teasers, I find: ”Our homage and version of Walt Whitman`s transcendental celebration of life and existence, delving deep into a personal catharsis.”

”The Crow, the Owl and the Dove” sounds interesting: ”Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me Truth” – Henry David Thoreau. ”Love is everything, and only Truth is our guide to a deeper state.”

Related posts:

To the extent possible under law, the creator has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.
Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this waiver may be available at this page.